Boston Tea Party example essay topic

Throughout the course of history there have been many events leading up to the independence of America. Some of them were small, whereas others were much more significant. One of the more important events was the Boston Tea Party. This was when the colonists, in anger, boarded a ship carrying many chests of fine teas, and hurled them overboard. The Boston Tea Party marked the first act of open resistance to British rule. The Boston Tea Party alone was not the main event that brought America her independence.

However it was the larger of many little things that led up to the revolutionary war. For example, if there would never have been a Tea Tax, then there never would have been the need for a boycott. Likewise, if there was no boycott there would not have been a Boston Tea Party. The Boston Tea Party in turn led to the Intolerable Acts, which eventually led to the Revolutionary War.

The Revolutionary War was the event that brought forth the Declaration of Independent! ce. Therefore, the Boston Tea Party was one of the key events leading up to America's independence. In 1770, five years after the stamp tax was repealed, a new tax appeared. This was called the Townsend Tax.

The Townsend Tax was placed mostly upon things such as lead, glass, paper, and tea. This led the colonists to boycott the items that were sold by the English. Them doing this caused great problems for the merchants because the things they sold were expensive to make, and with no purchasers, they did not make any money. Now the merchants were unable to feed their families because of the lack of money. Thus, upsetting the merchants as well. The British tried to lower the taxes, but this did not satisfy the colonists.

They had already begun to make their own things. The merchants complained to the king, who at that time was King George, and he repealed the taxes. All but the one on tea that is. This went on for about three years. The people who could not make their own tea, had simply switched to coffee. For some reason, in about 1773, the people were no! longer satisfied with the coffee and homemade tea.

They decided to take action. In 1773 the people got angry. They were tired of the way they were being treated. So with a little persuasion from Samuel Adams, they devised a plan to rebel. The plan was to go to the Boston Harbor, and wait for the whistle, most likely given by Sam Adams.

Then somewhere near one hundred men known as the Sons of Liberty would board the ship disguised as Indians. They would then proceed to tear open the chests of tea and dump them overboard. That Sunday night, December 16th, 1773, the plan was put into action. It worked just as they had wanted it to. The near hundred men, all dressed as Indians, boarded the ship and with their tomahawks, they broke the chests of tea open and succeeded in dumping 342 chests of tea into the Boston Harbor.

This was later named The Boston Tea Party, but for the British it was called a disaster. As soon as King George heard of the tea party, he was furious. In 1774, the British government passed many laws in order to punish the colonists for their act of rebellion. Some people called these laws the Punitive Acts, and some called them the Coercive Acts. However to most, they were known as the Intolerable Acts.

There were five Intolerable Acts all together. The first of these was called the Boston Port Act. This law closed down the Boston port until the East India Company was reimbursed for the tea that was ruined in the Boston Harbor. This upset the people greatly, since this was the only port in Boston and the people of Boston thrived on commerce. The bad thing about this law was that it punished the innocent as well as the guilty. The second of the laws was a modification to the Massachusetts charter of 1691.

It took away many of the rights of self-government that the province had enjoyed. The third measure stated that the British officials accused of! committing crimes in America could be taken to Britain for their trial. This was bad for the colonists because surely Britain would be easier on its own people. The colonists could never punish the British fairly again. The fourth measure forced the colonies to find a way to provide additional quarters for the British troops. The fifth act was not an act that was made to punish the colonies.

It was an act that extended the boundaries of the province of Quebec to the Ohio River. It also gave the Roman Catholics in the province religious liberty as well as the protection of French and English law. These acts were considered to be an outrage and the colonists would not even consider following them. This was a test and the colonists took it.

If they were to accept these "intolerable acts" they would be giving up all of their claims to the right of self-government. This is where the tension between England and the colonists blossomed, and the thought of war began running! through the people's minds. The First Continental Congress declared these acts to be unjust and unconstitutional. They did not, however, do anything about them. The next year, the battle of Lexington came.

On the night of April 18, 1775, British troops ventured out to steal the colonial military supplies that were stored 21 miles away at Concord. Paul Revere rode up and down the streets warning the colonists that the British were coming. The colonists prepared themselves by assembling with their guns along the route of the British. The next morning, the British had killed eight patriots, and ten were wounded. The British marched on to Concord. They succeeded in destroying the supplies, however the Americans did put up a fight.

The war had now begun. This was the war to end colonialism, also known as the Revolutionary War. In the months to follow there were many battles fought, most won by the British. The only thing the colonists had won was fame for their courage to stand up to the English troops.

Because of all of the military action, the desire for independence from Britain became something that most of the colonists ha! d. Thomas Paine was the first one to make an open call for independence. He wrote a pamphlet called "Common Sense", and in it the attacks he made on King George got the people excited about it. In April, North Carolina's delegates to the Congress voted for independence. In May, Virginia did the same.

On July 2, 1776, congress voted for independence. Two days later we received the Declaration of Independence. The Boston Tea Party was directly and indirectly responsible for America's independence. America didn't receive its independence simply because a few angry colonists decided to go throw some tea into the Boston Harbor. However, if those colonists would " ve just said, "Fine, we " ll pay the taxes.

We " ll do whatever you say and we won't fight back". Then all of the events that occurred leading up to the Revolutionary War never would have happened. To this day America could still be under the rule of Britain. This all just goes to show that no matter how silly or small the act may seem, you never know what it may accomplish. So you should always act on how you feel. The colonists did and because of it America is now its own country.

Books: - Stein, Conrad R. and Neely, Keith (1984) "The Story of the Boston Tea Party" Sites: - "The Boston Tea Party" web (23 Oct. 1997) - "Historic Tours of America - Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum" web (23 Oct. 1997) Other: - Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia (c) 1994, 1995, 1996.